Friday, November 17 marked the end of a one-week Site Improvement Monitoring System (SIMS) supervision exercise conducted across selected CHS supported facilities in the Lower Eastern region (Machakos, Makueni and Kitui) and Central region (Nyeri, Murang’a, Nyandarua and Laikipia). This routine supervision is conducted every quarter by the us Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as a requirement for health facilities that receive funding from the United States President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
SIMS is a tool used to measure different aspects of HIV service delivery. It aims to identify key gaps in service delivery for improvement through administration of standard tools that assess adherence to PEPFAR service delivery standards and monitor site capacity to provide high quality HIV/AIDS services in all program areas.
Working closely with the CHS team, CDC conducted the supervision at the facilities and for the County Health Management Teams (CHMT). The process involved the CDC team splitting into groups and assessing services in the different program areas – HIV care and treatment, TB/HIV and Gender Based Violence. After the completion of an assessment, the CDC team would give feedback and scores based on their findings presenting an opportunity for the facility staff and CHMT to receive an overview of the identified gaps and recommendations for improvement.
Majority of the health facilities performed exceptionally well with a rating of over 90% and were commended for their dedicated effort towards the delivery of quality HIV care and treatment services in their respective counties.